Why not get a £3 0s 0d return from Liverpool to London by brand new electric train?

At the start of the 1960s, the majority of travel was still done by train. This was about to change: an increase in disposable income combined with a decrease in the cost of cars; the car building industry employed more people than the railways and had more businesses depending on them; cars could be readily exported, trains only rarely. After 100 years of focussing on the railways, the government turned to cars as a driver, as it were, of the economy and as a measure of popular prosperity.

The railways suffered under this change of direction, not helped by Dr Beeching closing a third of the network. At the same time, British Railways fought back with electrification schemes, a whole new brand called “British Rail” marked with the definitive UK logo of the 20th century and an array of special offers and cheap travel options.

Here’s an offer for a day return to London from Liverpool in 1966/7 for just £3 – that’s £52 in modern money. The same journey with Virgin Trains now costs £156 (£9 in 1966 money).

Kif Bowden-Smith loved growing up in the 1960s. During that decade he founded the Transdiffusion Broadcasting System, still extant today, and built the archive you're looking at now. He worked for Brian Epstein's NEMS in the classical department but never met The Beatles.